Fast-Track Patents on Hold

A move to kickstart homegrown innovation by streamlining the patent process is being shelved “until further notice” over a lack of funding under the new cost-cutting federal budget, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office said Wednesday.

The agency had sought to offer fast-track patents for a $4,000 fee – on top of a base processing fee of $1,090 – in a bid to reduce a growing backlog of more than 700,000 applications. The processing times would have been cut to under a year, compared with three years under the current system.

The move, slated to begin in May, would have created a three-track system to help alleviate a bottle-neck of filers, including expedited, standard and delayed processing options.

But under the eleventh-hour budget deal reached by Congress in early April, which cuts $38 billion from federal spending this year, the agency says it can no longer afford to offer the fast-track program.

In a statement, patent office director David Kappos says under its reduced spending authority, the agency lacks the resources to hire enough examiners to implement the program while ensuring “no adverse impact on non-prioritized examination applications.”

The program would be implemented “as soon as circumstances permit,” the statement said.

The development many not be bad news for all patent seekers. Some small-business owners had complained that they lacked the funds to pursue fast-track applications under the proposed three-track system, giving larger corporation an edge in the race to secure patents.

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America’s entrepeneurs are executives who build companies from the ground up. In Charge provides news, analysis and in-the-trenches commentary about small-business management. Produced by Sarah E. Needleman, Emily Maltby and Angus Loten, with contributions from the Wall Street Journal staff and others. Have a comment or tip? Write to incharge@wsj.com.